Num Kom and Fertility

Num kom is a Khmer cake wrapped in banana leaves in a pyramid shape. It is made with glutinous rice flour and has coconut, palm sugar, and black sesame seeds filling. Khmers usually serve num kom as a dessert at big gatherings. But num kom also has a religious connotation; it is a representation of the yoni (vulva, womb), a personification of the divine feminine creative power. If you know your Hinduism, you’d know that the yoni is the counterpart to the linga, which is the mark of Lord Shiva. So of course, num kom has its own counterpart, num ansom which represents the linga. At engagement and wedding ceremonies, num kom and num ansom are always presented together to symbolize the union of the linga and the yoni, the representation of the eternal process of creation and regeneration, the union of male and female principles. In Khmer that union is called mea ba. Num ansom and its meaning will be covered in a future post.

Num Kom

16 oz. grated coconut (I used frozen coconut, thawed)

8 oz. palm sugar

1 oz. black sesame seeds, roasted

A generous pinch of salt

12.3 oz. glutinous rice flour (about 3 cups)

1 ½ cups warm water

Banana leaves for wrapping

Prepare the filling: heat a pan over low heat. Add palm sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Add the grated coconut and salt. Simmer until the coconut becomes sticky and has absorbed all the sugar. Remove from heat, sprinkle with sesame seeds and allow it to cool. Make small balls of the mixture, about 1 tbsp. size. You’ll get about 24 to 27 balls.

Make the dough: place the rice flour in a mixing bowl and add warm water and mix until it resembles smooth workable dough that is not too wet and can hold its shape. If it crumbles, it’s too dry, just add a bit more water. If it is too soft, add a few pinches of flour. Cover the dough with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

Prepare the banana leaves: cut the banana leaves into round shapes of 9 inch diameter. Grease the leaves with flavorless oil. And bring a big pot of water to a boil.

To assemble the cakes: take a piece of dough, about 1 tbsp. and roll it into a ball. Place each ball of dough on the palm of your hand and lightly flatten the ball. Place the filling in the center and bring the edges of the dough up over the filling and seal the ball by pinching the sides together. Roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

To wrap the cakes: follow these pictures below 

Steam the cakes for 20 minutes.

A Queen's Eulogy

In the city named the Temple of Patience,

in the city of Former Eloquence, and eventually

in the city of Angkor, this Brahmin girl of royal rank

became the beloved of King Jayavarman.

Her lowered head on the raised feet of the king,

she approached the Ganges, whose fallen feet lay on Shiva’s head.

Among the lovelies who loved learning, she scattered the king’s favors,

lovely nectars in the form of learning.

Wise by nature, a polymath, perfectly pure,

devoted to King Jayavarman,

having composed this pure paean

at the expense of all other arts, she gleamed.

Queen Indradevi (c. 1181-1218), Translated from Sanskrit by Trent Walker

From 1190–1200, Indradevi penned a composition eulogizing her late younger sister, Jayarajadevi. Her composition was inscribed on a large stone stele at Phimeanakas temple in Angkor Thom. The composition was in Sanskrit, comprised of 102 stanzas, the last three are included above. Trent Walker also recorded his chanting of the above stanzas in their original Sanskrit. Give it a listen

"Oh Brahmin"

Oh Brahmin,

You never walk along the ground.

You usually ride an elephant

Its howdah decorates with flowers.

Oh Brahmin,

Your feet tap as you walk along.

The thorns of the feronia

Cut your feet.

Anak cau brahm oey

Min tael toe ti

Dhlap jih tamri

Kancaen ray phkay

Anak cau brahm oey

Cau toe tamn tamn

Panla krasamn

Mut joen cau brahm

"Oh Brahmin" is a very old Khmer song, written in Baky Buon (four-syllable metre)

Transliteration by Judith M. Jacob

Winter is Now Here

Stacks of ripe rice and sugar-cane cover the earth

The air rings with the hidden calls of curlews:

Love grows exuberant: Dear to lovely women,

Winter is now here; hear now, my love.

People close their windows tight, light fires,

Keep warm in the sun and wear heavy garments:

Men find the company of youthful women

Pleasing at this time of the year.

This wintry season that abounds with sweet rice,

and sugar-cane,

and mounds of dark palm-sugar dainties:

when Love waxes proud

and Love’s sport is at fever-pitch;

when the anguish is intense of parted lovers:

May this season be to you ever auspicious.

Cantos 1, 2 and 16 of the Gathering of the Seasons by Kālidāsa (5th century CE)

She's Got A Hold On Me

No knot can equal the grip of a sweetheart.

Khmer Adage

Silent Night

Moonlight shining through the window

Makes me wonder if there is frost on the ground

Looking up to see the moon

Looking down I miss my hometown

Thoughts on a Still Night by Li Bai (701–762)

Control the Present

Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!

Look to this Day!

For it is Life, the very Life of Life.

In its brief course lie all the

Verities and Realities of your Existence;

The Bliss of Growth,

The Glory of Action,

The Splendor of Beauty;

For Yesterday is but a Dream,

And Tomorrow is barely a Vision;

But Today well lived makes every

Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, and every

Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.

Look well therefore to this Day!

Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.

Kālidāsa (5th century CE)

Be Critical Of...

Everything we hear is not a fact, but an opinion. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

 Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) 

Twilight has Arrived

At that moment, coming from the East, Lord Surya, mounted on his crystal chariot pulled by a thousand stallions, skirted Mount Meru, axis of the world, and went to the West following the circle of the constellations. When the chariot turned and was hidden by the enormous mountain, the Lord’s brilliant light dimmed and came the twilight.

Kolap Pailin (Rose of Pailin) by Nhok Them (1936) 

I Love Money

I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent.

Of Human Bondage (1915) by  W. Somerset Maugham

Branch Out

You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted. When the time comes, every human being has to depart to seek his fulfillment in his own way.

The Rámáyana of Válmíki (5th century BCE) 

Apathy, Stoicism and Buddhists

No one rides before, no one comes behind

And the path bears no fresh prints.

How now, am I alone? Ah yes, I see:

The path which the ancients opened up by now is overgrow

And the other, that broad and easy road, I've surely left.

Dharmakirti (6^th century AD)

 

 

Love is a Tyrant

She - of whom I am constantly thinking, has no love towards me. She loves another person and he is interested in another woman. Some other lady is longing for me. Fie her, him, the Cupid, that lady and me too. 

 The Śatakatraya or The Three Hundred (5^th Century CE) by Bhartṛhari

Cambodian Grilled Corn

Grilled Corn with Sweet Coconut Glaze 

1 cup coconut cream

1 tsp fish sauce

2 tbsp. palm sugar 

1 tbsp. water

A few pinches of salt

2 green onions, thinly sliced

6 corn

Combine coconut cream, water, sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add green onions and remove it from the stove. Let it cool.

Grill the corn according to your preferences. Start basting them with the glaze after a few minutes. And continue basting them a few more times during grilling. When the corn are done, baste them one more time. Serve them warm.

Grilled Corn with Sweet Glaze

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp fish sauce

A few pinches of salt

6 corn

Heat the oil in a small pan over high heat. Add the remaining ingredients and stir-fry about 30 seconds. Let it cool.

Grill the corn according to your preferences. When the corn are done, brush the glaze over the hot corn and serve.

Think For Yourself

Though you might listen to your elders or the experts, still, do pull yourself up and stretch your thinking.

King Sri Dhammaraja of Cambodia (1629–1634)

Autumn Has Arrived!

Robed in pale silk plumes of kasa blooms,

Full-blown lotuses her beautiful face,

The calls of rapturous wild geese

The music of her anklet bells,

Ripening grain, lightly bending, her lissome form:

Autumn has now arrived, enchanting as a bride.

 Autumn from Ṛtusaṃhāra or Gathering of the Seasons by Kālidāsa (5th century CE)

*Note: Kasa is a name of a variety of grass.

A Compliment A Day...

A compliment is a little love in a lot of spirit.

 Literary Studies of the 16th Century (1889) by Emile Faguet

A Lovers' Quarrel

Lovers have a way of using this word "nothing" which implies the exact opposite.

 A Daughter of Eve (1839) by Honoré de Balzac

You're So Vain

Vanity is the most stupid and cruelest of vices, for it makes one blush with happiness!

Graziella (1852) de Alphonse de Lamartine

How to be a Grandfather

Seeing the young have little dread of me,

A dreamer at their joy and jollity,

A rogue grandfather! pious brows grow dark,

Frowning because I overstep the mark.

L'Art d'être grand-père (1877) by Victor Hugo

Keep Working

Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.

The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1674) by Baltasar Gracián

Repeat the Past

The lesson of history is that no one learns.

 Deadhouse Gates (2000) by Steven Erikson

Khmer Mango Salad

Continued from yesterday’s post about Khmer salad dressing, here’s another salad:

Mango Salad or Ngiom Svay in Khmer

1 large green mango, julienned
1 small carrot, julienned (optional)

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

4 large shallots or 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

A bunch of mint leaves

A bunch of basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss mango, carrot (if using), shrimp, shallots, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Southeast Asian markets usually carry young green mangos. If you have one in your neighborhood, try there. If not, you can use those large mangos found in most western markets. Pick the hardest ones possible. Those mangos usually taste sweeter than the green ones. If you prefer a tarter taste, add extra lemon/lime juice to your salad.

Mango salad is the most loved of all Khmer salads. We make it with all kind of protein, from smoked fish to dried shrimp to pork belly to fresh seafood. Try it with a combination of pork belly and shrimp. 

Khmer Mango Salad

Khmer Salad Dressing

Fish-sauce dressing

5 garlic cloves

3 red chilies (optional)

½ cup fish sauce

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup sugar

A pinch of salt

Pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar. Spoon out and place the garlic/chili mixture in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Note: Except for beef and fish salads (the pleah variety), this fish-sauce dressing is used in majority of Khmer salads (ngiom) and a few relishes (chrourk). You can also use it as a dipping sauce for boiled/broiled seafood. Drizzle some fish-sauce dressing over broiled or deep-fried whole fish and serve it with some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.

To start, here's a very popular salad:

Cambodian Cabbage Salad

Cambodian Cabbage Salad or Ngiom Spai Kdaob in Khmer

1 cabbage, about 2 pounds, quartered and thinly sliced

3/4 pound boiled chicken breast, shredded

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced into matchsticks

4 medium shallots, thinly sliced

3 oz bean thread soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and drained (optional)

1 red or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

A bunch of mint and basil leaves

1/3 cup of roasted peanuts, roughly ground

1/3 cup fish-sauce dressing

In a large bowl, toss everything together, setting aside the peanuts and the dressing. When you’re ready to eat, toss the salad with the dressing and sprinkle with peanuts and serve. 

Note: The traditional recipe calls for chicken, but you can also make it with boiled pork belly or shrimp or a combination of all three.

Another salad, with apples as the main star:

Apple Salad

Apple Salad or Ngiom Pomme in Franco-Khmer

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

3 large Granny Smith apples, julienned

3 medium shallots, or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Some mint leaves

Some basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss apples, shallots, shrimp, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Use crunchy apples, the sourer the apples, the better.

Riddle Me This

Darling girl, as big as you are, you still stand shorter than grass.

Tough Love

Don’t shoot those you hate; don’t lend to those you love.

Khmer Proverb 

Women and Civilizations

Rice seedling raises the soil, a woman cultivates her man.

Khmer Proverb

How the Hare saved the Shrimp, the Fish and the Crabs: A Khmer Folktale

There was once a wolf who roamed the fields for food, and when a cool breeze started blowing he would go to dried up lakes and ponds to catch fish. One time, upon arriving at a small pond which had almost completely dried up but for a muddy hole full of shrimp, fish and crabs, the wolf exclaimed, “Surely today is my lucky day.”

Upon hearing what the wolf had said, the shrimp pleaded, “We are your food, Brother Wolf, but we’re muddy, we won’t make for delicious food if you eat us in such a state.”

The wolf then asked, “What can I do to make you delicious?” The shrimp replied, “You should clean us first.” The wolf again asked, “there’re many of you, how can I do so?” At which the shrimp told him not to worry if he followed their directions. The wolf agreed.

The shrimp told the wolf to lie down in the mud, “then we will cling to your fur and then you can take us to clean in a lake with clear water. Then you can finally enjoy us.”

The wolf was a bit excited and foolish so he did exactly as he was told. The shrimp, fish and crabs clung to the wolf’s fur and the wolf went around looking for water until he saw a large lake with clean water. He walked into the water and the shrimp and fish and crabs jumped into the water and told the wolf to go back and bring all the remaining shrimp, fish and crabs, “after you bring all of us here, you can eat us all later. We will be waiting for you here.” The wolf went back and brought the rest of the shrimp, fish and crabs to the lake.

When the shrimp, fish and crabs learned that the wolf had moved all of them, they submerged deeper into the lake. It was too late when the wolf realized he had been tricked by the shrimp. He became enraged and decided to persuade other large animals to join him into drying up the lake. He found elephants, tigers, rhinos and snakes, big and small, to join in his effort. The snakes acted as a dam while other animals tried throwing water out of the lake.

The shrimp, fish and other animals living in the lake were frightened by what was happening. They tried to come up with a solution to stop those animals from drying up the lake. A climbing perch offered to go look for the hare who was known as a clever judge, who helped animals and humans alike. The climbing perch crawled in the sunlight in search of the hare. At nightfall, the hare came out looking for food and saw the climbing perch crawling and asked, “Where are you going, Brother Climbing Perch?” The climbing perch pleaded, “Please take pity on me, Brother Hare. All the fish in the lake have asked me to come and seek your help. You are known to be wise and you are kind to humans and animals in difficulties. Right now there are buffaloes, elephants, tigers, rhinos, snakes and flamingos working together to dry up the lake so they can catch us. The boas and snakes are acting as a dam across the lake.” The climbing perch continued “Please help save us.”

The hare told the climbing perch to go back and tell everyone not to worry, “I’ll go and help you out.” The climbing perch then crawled back to the lake with the news.

In the morning the hare came to the lake and saw many animals trying to dry up the lake. He picked a green leaf with holes eaten by worms from a nearby tree to use as a letter. He then called out to the animals and said, “Listen to me everyone. Indra, King of the Gods, has ordered me to bring this letter to all of you. The letter says that Indra will come and break the legs of the flamingos and other water birds. He will break the necks of all the wolves and pull out the tusks of all the elephants.”

Upon hearing the letter, the animals panicked and stampeded over each other. Rhinos, elephants, buffaloes rushed away, stampeding on the snakes, causing the dam to burst. Water floated back into the lake and drowned the animals to death, who then became fish food. 

Quick and Easy Salad

A family’s favorite, this salad is based on the Khmer-Franco-Vietnamese Loc Lac, which is a wok-tossed beef with copious amount of black pepper.

1 head of curly green lettuce, torn to bite-size pieces

1 large tomato, halved and thinly sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Place the lettuce on a plate or in a salad bowl, arrange sliced tomato on lettuce and place sliced onion on top of the tomato. Drizzle some olive oil, soy sauce and red wine vinegar on the salad. Toss and serve. For a full meal, add sliced grilled beef.

Num Sleuk Sros: A Khmer Sweet

Num Sleuk Sros

Num Sleuk Sros, Khmer freshly wrapped little cakes

Here’s a short Khmer lesson:

Num = cake/cakes

Sleuk = leaf/leaves

Sros = fresh/freshness